Mowry & Cotton Celebrates Fantastic First Year

The Place: Mowry & Cotton
The Location: The Phoenician, 6000 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale
By: Shoshana Leon

Mowry & Cotton at The Phoenician has had an outstanding first year, with rave reviews and the great distinction of being named one of the Best New Restaurants of 2017 by Phoenix Magazine, and Chef de Cuisine Tandy Peterson being named one of the year’s Best New Chefs.

“The first year at Mowry and Cotton has been extremely exciting with great publicity and positive feedback from customers,” said Chef Peterson. “One of the best things has been inspiring people to be part of communal dining so they can try more items and have more fun.”

Chef Peterson has an impressive resume and a fresh outlook on food and the dining experience. Before working at Mowry & Cotton, she worked at restaurants owned by Kevin Binkley, one of the Valley’s most celebrated fine dining chefs. She also spent time at Asador Etxebarri in the Basque region of Spain, rated one of the top restaurants in the world. She is a graduate of the Arizona Culinary Institute and joined The Phoenician in 2014.

In developing the concept and creating the menu for Mowry & Cotton, Chef Peterson focused on classic techniques like braising and grilling, while highlighting the ingredient as the star of the dish and pairing it with bold flavors. She drew inspiration from her own experiences and chefs she admires. Working in Spain, she was inspired by cooking over coals and the simplicity of Spanish cuisine. Before opening Mowry & Cotton, she went to Chicago to study some of the city’s most innovative restaurants that focus on paring unique flavors, including Girl and the Goat, Boka, and Smyth.

“I want food to leave an impression and wow people,” said Chef Peterson. “I want to create craveability in a casual atmosphere with shared plates and bold flavors.”

Mowry & Cotton’s menu changes seasonally and will go through major changes in October. Some of the most popular items on the current menu include hanger steak served with wild mushrooms and pickled blueberries, and mushroom flatbread paired with the sweet flavor of apricot and heat from fresh horseradish. Another favorite are the buttermilk buns which are made in-house and served with citrus sea salt butter and duck fat fig butter.

Mowry & Cotton is celebrating its anniversary with two special multi-course menus for $30 per person available October 6-13. Groups of three or more can share an Anniversary Brunch featuring the restaurant’s famous Mowry Monkey Bread with brown butter pecans, blueberry fig jam and white chocolate crème fraiche; shrimp and grits; green chile pork shank; and dessert. Mowry & Cotton’s Anniversary Celebration Dinner menu offers a choice of roasted squash flatbread, Mowry chop salad or smoked chicken wings as a starter, followed by a choice of charred hanger steak, roasted salmon or grilled Iberico pork as an entree, and lemon meringue or apple crumble for dessert.

After a remarkable first year on the Valley culinary scene, diners are excited to see what’s next. Chef Peterson and the staff are planning for the future of Mowry & Cotton. “We’d like to get more local people in the restaurant,” she said. “We’d like to get more involved in the community and have a greater local presence. We are planning more events, theme parties and communal wine dinners.”

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